Blog Log #13 (Last chapters!)

"It wasn't true. And none of those things tell you who he is or who we are."

I thought this sentence was really significant because it is totally true. People make assumptions about people from other races, but they don't actually ever get to know anything about them. I think it's wrong for people to make bad assumptions, because you have no proof that they are bad people. Just because there happens to be some terrorists or something from their country, doesn't mean that everyone from that particular country is automatically bad. It's not right to make those kinds of assumptions. You have to think about the situation from the other person's point of view. It not their fault that someone from their country decided to be a terrorist, they can't control that. You have to think about it very thoroughly....

Blog Log #12 chap. 16

"Aisha's huddled on the sofa, her knees drawn to her chest."

I thought this sentence was really significant because Aisha seemed to always be so confident and leading, but now she is a wreck, closed-up and miserable. It's like all the success and confidence has been sucked out of her! It's pretty sad really, how she turned her life around for the worse. I'm not sure why she helped Taslima leave, becasue it's pretty obvious that Uncle and Aunt would miss her, and I think it's pretty wrong to marry someone just to spite your parents. I wonder if Taslima ever wondered if asked her parents and giving few good point to why she should stay in the states, instead of being kind of a coward and running away. I don't like how she did that, and dragged Aisha in to help her. I wonder what Nadira would have done if Taslima asked her to help her run away? 

Blog Log #11 chap. 15

"All I keep thinking is I can't wait to tell Aisha." - pg. 136

When I read this quote, it made me realize how far Nadira has come thoughout the story. I remeber in the first chapter, Aisha made fun of Nadira (whether Aisha knew it or not), and Nadira felt useless. But now, Nadira is brave and loyal to her family. She realized that what she was going to do with Tareq was totally wrong, so instead she handeled it herself in an honest and legal way. I wonder whether Aisha will feel pround of her younger sister, or betrayed or mad because Nadira didn't include her in helping their father. I think that Nadira was sort of smart not to include Aisha in this, since she seems to be falling apart, plus she would totally explode at Nadira for even considering going to Tareq. But I think that the truth is that if Nadira hadn't taken the money and gone with Tareq, then she wouldn't have thought about going to Ma and Abba by herself. So here is my question to you: do you think Nadira would have gone to Ma and Abba by herself if she hadn't gone with Tareq in the first place?

 

Blog Log #10

"When I climb into the passenger seat, he flips open the glove compartment to show his gun inside." and "We walk in closer, and then I notice it, right next to a dish of rice and meat. A revolver." 

I thought it was strange that in the book Nadira didn't feel scared or nervous or even uneasy when Tareq showed her his gun in the glove compartment. When Tareq told her not to go tell her friends or say any names or pretend not to know anything, it seemed like a threat, but still Nadira acted totally normal and didn't really seem to care that she spent probably an hour in a car with an armed man. If I got into a car with someone who I didn't know very well who threated me not to tell anyone what was happening, I would run right out of that car! 

I think that Tareq showed her the gun to make sure that there was a difference between a friend and a coworker, and that he had power and knew where to find her and what he would do if she ratted him out.

Blog Log #9 Chapter 12

"Two guys are tossing a Frisbee in the air. They look so natural, so at home." - pg. 105

I chose this quote because the two guys are actually "so at home", while Nadira has to pretend to be at home. I wonder how Nadira feels, knowing that these people are automatically citizens and don't have to worry about immigration or the INS, and I wonder if she wonders how it would be to be at home in America, so carefree and not having to worry about being deported. 

Blog Log #8

"Yet I can feel Uncle and Abba, like shapes behind the walls."

I think that it would be really uncomfortible for you to be living with someone for such a long time, and then when it seems normal, they disapear from your life and it affects not just you but people around you too. I even imagine having someone leave from your home, and not being able to stop yourself from thinking that they will never come back. I can tell that Aisha feels like everything around her is crashing down, like an earthquake without warning. I wonder if anyone else from Nadira and Aisha life will have to leave, until its just them two, lost together in complete darkness.

Blog Log #7

"Clearly he's surprised at the way she's speaking in such clear, commanding English."

I thought it was so awesome that Taslima stood up to the immigration officers. I thought it was significant when the immigration officer took a step back when Taslima spoke to him, because I don't think he was expecting an illigal immigrant woman to be so educated about the laws and be brave enough to stand up to him. She showed him that anyone can be strong and commanding if they want to be, even if they do not hold the cards.  

Blog Log #6

"Aisha and I can't stop laughing, and the sounds widen, making bright circles in the room."

I picked this sentence because the whole storry is basically about the hardships that Nadira and Aisha have to face, and then out of all this stress and fright, Nadira and Aisha are finally having as good a time as can be managed. It was this bright light in the middle of complete darkness. I didn't really get how the sounds could widen, but I imagined the sound of laughter filling the room and filling Nadira and Aisha's heads, mometarily forcing them to forget their troubles. It made me feel good, that even in the hardest of times, you can still find a laugh inside you.

Blog Log #5

"Generation after generation, the water and the land melt and blur; people move across borders that make no sense."

I thought the quote was really interesting becuase the part about the land and water melting and blurring made this mental picture in my head of a landscape melting and mixing with an ocean and covering the world. It was like the world was being liquefied, or being stirred around in one of those chocolate mixers at the chocolate factory. Then the part in the sentence about the people moving across borders that make no sense made me think of the movie The Labyrinth. In the movie, the main character tries to get to the center of a huge labyrinth, but the walls are camoufaged and can change, which makes it super hard to find the center. This reminded me of that movie because I pictured people trying to find a place where they would belong and could settle down, every time they find somewhere, everything changes and mixes again and they have to keep searching.

comment on my own blog.

(it wouldn't let me post my comment on my own page. so imagine this as a comment...)

i didnt say this in my blog, but i think that Nadira wants to be as strong as Taslima and as liked as Aisha. I mena, what qualities does Aisha have that Nadira wants? is it that she has friends? Nadira has a friend, but Nadira is sort of shutting her out. Is it that Aisha is smarter? Aisha is a senior in high school. Of course she is smarter, shes in a high grade. I don't really see why Aisha wants to be like Aisha, which is why i think she should want to be like Taslima, because Taslima is a lot stronger then Aisha? Do you think Taslima would go running off crying if her little sister yelled at her? Probably not. 

Nadira probably does want to be like Aisha, but i don't see why. This will be interesting ot discuss in class....

Blog Log #4

"'Becuase she will always fight. Fight, fight, fight, even when it's time to run.'"

I thought that this quote showed the type of girl Nadira wishes she could be. Nadira says she wishes she could lift out of herself and do something that really counts. I think that if Nadira could lift out of herself and settle into another person, she would stay in Taslima (the person who is being described in this quote). Nadira's mother says that Nadira is "sweet and patient", but then Nadira says that thats not all she is. In my annotations, I asked: what else is Nadira? When I read this quote, it sparked an idea in my head and I asked a new question: is there someone else in this book who fits the type of person Nadira wishes she could be? Personally, I think that person is Taslima. From what this quote tells me about her, she is a strong and independent person who does what she wants, and would never be dragged around by an older sister... which is exactly how I think nadira feels. 

What I think of Tareq

One of the character that we met recently is named Tareq. From what we know, he dropped out of high school and he likes to drive around in his care blasting music. We know that he makes Nadira mad and anxious, Aisha thinks he is a low-life, and their mother calls him "Bagh'a" which means Tiger, becuase he has a wide face and small eyes and a bad temper. 

Tareq actually kind of reminds me of someone I know. His name is Jack, and he is my friend's older brother. Jack hasn't dropped out of high school, but he blasts his music so loud in his car, he once got a ticket becuase his music could be heard from over 500 feet away or something. We call it the "thump", becuase the bass thumps incredibly loud. 

I think that Tareq is not a bad character, and he might actually turn out to help Nadira in her act that "really counts". 

Blog Log #3

A quote from chapter five that I thought was really great is "Sometimes I wish I could lift out of myself and do something that really counts." This is the last sentence of the chapter, and I personally can sense a little foreshadowing in it. It seems like Nadira really wants to do something that "counts", but can't bring herself to do it becuase perhaps she feels uncomfortible stepping up and speaking her mind. I think she sees Aisha as the person who speaks up in the family, and she is the one who shrinks away from the spotlight. I think that something will happen to Aisha or someone in her family, and Nadira will have to step in and save them, even if she seriously doubts herself.    

Responce to Julia's supercali blog

In Julia's (b)log from this weekend, i can totally tell from the writing that it was Julia's. It seems like something she might say. Although I do disagree with something she said in her blog. She says that "Nadira is much more comfortible with who she is", which I don't really think is true. In chapter one, Nadira calls herself the  "fat and dreamy second daughter" and the "slow-wit second born", which does not seems very comfortible. 

One thing that I did like in Julia's log was that she said exactly what she thought and how she felt. To me, her log has a lot of great points and quotes from the book that support those points. I really like Julia's style of writing blog, how she is so sure of herself.   

Blog Log #2

I really like how in chapter three, Nadira tells the story of her family, so that the reader can have some sort of idea of her past in Bengal.

In chapter three, Nadira says "Then the British, men with ledgers and rubber boots, arrived and wanted to slice Bengal in half." This quote makes makes think of a connection between Nadira's family's past, and her family's present. In my connection, the British are like the INS, trying to take control of people's lives because they think its right and they have the authority to do it. Bengal is like Nadira's family. It is being ripped into two parts. Muslims and Hindus in Bengal, Nadira and Aisha and their parents in the United States. 

     

Blog Log #1

Quote from book: "Aisha kicks me. 'Shut up,' she hisses, then speaks softly to my fathers back. 'Whatever you say, Abba.'"

I picked this quote from the book becuase it gives you an idea of how Nadira's sister, Aisha, feels about Nadira versus their father, Abba. Even though the next paragraph is all about Aisha always getting what she wants and being mean to Nadira, and then Abba always boasting about Aisha and giving her what she wants. It also seems to me that Nadira has low self-esteem, becuase in one page, she says "...stuck with me, his fat and dreamy second daughter" and on another page, "slow-wit second-born who just follows along." I wonder if she will talk about herself like this all throughout the book, or if she will learn to be like herself for who she is.